The Iranian regime surely knows an illegal war when it sees one on its own soil. It claims that the attacks the U.S. and Israel launched against it these past six weeks violated international law and caused enormous damage to Iranian infrastructure. The regime is demanding reparations from the U.S. and Israel for the destruction. That is part of the 10-point ceasefire plan that is going to be discussed between U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Pakistan this weekend.
A little over four years ago, another war, which is ten times more illegal than the current one in Iran, broke out on Ukrainian soil. For reasons that are quite obvious to everyone, this Iranian regime enthusiastically sent boatloads of its deadly Shahed-136 drones to Russia, the aggressor. The Russians have used those missiles to kill thousands of Ukrainian civilians and destroy Ukraine’s infrastructure, including power plants and heating systems, as well as hospitals and schools.
The only reason I can think of for that “lapse of judgment” on the part of the Iranian regime, when it supplied those weapons to be used to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine, is that the regime’s members were not well versed in international law at the time. They must have only recently acquired this knowledge about how nations are supposed to behave on the international stage. But that is an excuse they can’t have. The Iranian leaders are highly educated people; they knew what they were doing all along.
The U.S. team that is going to meet with the Iranians in Pakistan this weekend should have an easy case to make on the reparations issue. Since America is a party to the war in Ukraine, it should have damage claims of its own. The Iranian weapons sent to Russia have killed a lot more Ukrainians and done significantly more damage to the country’s infrastructure over four years than what the U.S. and Israel have caused in Iran over six weeks. Iran therefore has much greater liability. The U.S. will come out ahead if it makes that case and asks for a net settlement.
Iran’s problem could be compounded by the fact that it has fired indiscriminately at its neighbors during this war. The regime claims that it is attacking American military bases in the region. That is partly true. But it is undeniable that Iran has deliberately targeted civilians and non-military infrastructure, including hotels, oil facilities and pipelines, in countries that are not direct participants in the war. Those nations could also start making their own reparations claims.
The Iranian regime should be careful what it wishes for. It may want to take the reparations issue off the table and go into this weekend’s negotiations with a nine-point plan.